Fifth game doesn’t go Cate’s way

It took five games, but Don Lugo’s girls volleyball team outlasted Cate on Tuesday in the first round of the Division 4-AA CIF playoffs.

The game scores were 23-25, 20-25, 25-18, 25-19, 15-11 in a match played at Cate.

“We had some good comebacks, just couldn’t pull it out in the fifth game,” said Rams head coach Greg Novak.

Don Lugo actually strolled out to a 12-2 lead in the first game but Cate found another gear and turned the match around in a hurry. The Rams stormed back to win the first game and continued on to win the second.

“Cydney Pierce was on fire,” Novak said. “We just stopped making errors; I mean, everything was flawless.”

Pierce led Cate with 23 kills on the night. Annie Weis added 12 kills. The Rams were without senior captain Emma Burrell because of migraines.

“Don Lugo just gained momentum from there on,” Novak explained.

The Rams dropped the next two games. Cate managed to tie Don Lugo 9-9 in the fifth game but couldn’t get the upper hand.

“It was just a couple of errors on our part and some great defensive plays on their part that did it,” said Novak. “It was a great season. Making the playoffs with injuries and newcomers, it was amazing they pulled it off.”

The Rams stayed in this match with serving. Cate committed only four errors on 98 attempts.